He was officially received at Aden Abdullah International Airport by Somalia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Isaac Mohamud Mursal. Both emphasized the importance of promoting bilateral cooperation.

The visit marks Somalia’s addition to Russia’s growing list of African partners as the Kremlin strengthens its influence in Africa through economic diplomacy, security cooperation, and political engagement. 

In a statement after the meeting, Mursal reaffirmed Somalia’s commitment to deepening relations with Russia. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Somalia is ready to deepen cooperation in energy, infrastructure, and trade.

“We are pleased to welcome Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov to Somalia and look forward to expanding our partnership in the coming years,” Mursal said.

Somalia’s location on key sea routes and its efforts to rebuild after years of conflict make it a key partner for countries vying for influence in Africa. 

Russia’s engagement in Somalia underscores Moscow’s broader efforts to forge alliances in underserved but strategically important regions—a pattern that has intensified across Africa in recent years.

Although Bogdanov’s visit comes at a time Russia is trying to grow its influence in Africa, the discussions are expected to pave the way for greater Russian involvement in Somalia’s economic and security development.

For Somalia, strengthening ties with Moscow is an effort to diversify its international partnerships and attract new investment, infrastructure development, and security cooperation. However, for Moscow, the Horn of Africa is a region where stability, access to critical ports, and natural resources are important for global trade. Source: Horseed Media

Kenya’s national youth athletics teams reigned supreme, dominating the East African Regional (EAAR) Championships in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where they floored four other nations to bag a staggering 12 gold medals.

A single Kenyan athlete also clinched three gold awards, underlining the country’s growing dominance at the youth level. The combined national men’s and women’s Under-18 and Under-20 teams, who jetted back on Sunday morning, April 27, emerged overall winners after edging out competition from four countries during the two-day EAAR Championships held at Zanzibar’s Amani Stadium from Friday, April 25 to Saturday, April 26.

During the event, which featured hosts Tanzania, Eritrea, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya, the national youth teams scooped 12 gold, four silver and five bronze medals, topping the regional athletics table with a total of 21 medals to be crowned overall champions.

Speaking to People Sports, Kenya’s national U-18 and U-20 team leader of delegation cum Team Manager Joseph Ilovi attributed the country’s outstanding performance to the strong youth athletics foundation established by Athletics Kenya (AK).

“The Kenya government, through AK, has funded the establishment of 56 youth training camps across various counties such as South Rift, North Rift, Central Rift, the Kaptama camp in Mt. Elgon, three camps in Kisii, and others in far-flung areas like Garissa and Isiolo, where significant talent nurturing and development is taking place,” Ilovi explained.

He added: “During school holidays in April, August, and December, these youth athletes are kept busy training at the government-funded AK camps. When schools reopen, they continue with training as part of their co-curricular activities. That is why our youth athletes performed better overall at the EAAR Championships in Zanzibar.”

Ilovi further noted that the athletes who earned honours for Kenya were selected during the recent Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) national games held at Shanzu Teachers Training College (STTC) in Mombasa.

“After selection by AK at the end of the national KSSSA games, the athletes were put through rigorous preparation for two weeks before departing for Zanzibar for the EAAR Championships,” Ilovi said.

During the championships, Kenya’s Under-20 athlete David Kapaiko registered an outstanding performance, winning three gold medals in the men’s Under-18 category races—1,500m, 5,000m, and as a member of the 4x400m relay team alongside Daniel Wasike, Antony Lemoshira, and Nashon Kiech, who clocked 3:23.19. By Bosco Magare, People Daily

Healthcare professionals across the country on Monday gathered to prepare for the upcoming launch of two life-saving vaccines, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and the rotavirus vaccine, on 24 May.

The symposium was organized by South Sudanese Women in Medicine (SWAM) under the theme “Rallying South Sudan’s Healthcare Professionals for Humanly Possible PCV and ROTA Vaccine” as part of World Immunization Week celebrations.

The symposium brought together doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, public health experts, and key partners from UNICEF and WHO to mobilize support for the official vaccine introduction scheduled for late May.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Koiti Emmily, co-founder and Executive Director of SWAM, described the day as a critical moment in South Sudan’s public health journey.

“After years of advocacy, perseverance, and planning, South Sudan is finally poised to introduce vaccines that will significantly reduce mortality and morbidity among children under five,” she said. “Pneumonia and diarrhea should not be death sentences for our children. Today is about forging a united front to ensure no child dies from a disease we can prevent.”

The symposium aimed to sensitize healthcare workers on the importance of the vaccines, foster collaboration across specialties, and reinforce public trust amid the shift in the vaccine launch date.

Dr. Atem Nathan, Director General of Primary Healthcare Services at the Ministry of Health, emphasized the urgency of the effort.

“Today marks a significant milestone in our healthcare journey. Malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea are the top three killers in South Sudan,” he stated. “Last year, the introduction of the malaria vaccine faced challenges due to low uptake. We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes with PCV and the rotavirus vaccine.”

According to Dr. Atem, pilot programs in Upper Nile State have already demonstrated the vaccines’ effectiveness, notably reducing cases of pneumonia.

“This is our opportunity to scale up what we know works. Despite the challenges of vast geography, poor infrastructure, and cold chain limitations, we must work around them,” he stressed. “No child should be left behind. Every child vaccinated is a life saved, a family preserved, and a future secured.”

Highlighting the role of frontline healthcare workers, Mukwaya Douglas, Cold Chain Specialist Officer for UNICEF South Sudan, outlined the critical partnership between UNICEF, WHO, and the government.

“UNICEF is leading the logistics and social behaviour change efforts, while WHO handles policy guidelines and surveillance. Healthcare workers are the first point of contact for caregivers. You must be equipped with accurate information to answer tough questions and build trust,” he explained. “At the national level, we are 78 percent ready according to the readiness tool, and we are working tirelessly to ensure state and county levels catch up. We have already received 2.7 million doses of PCV and 300,000 doses of the rotavirus vaccine, with more shipments to follow.”

Training of health workers at the national level has been completed, and cascade trainings at the state and county levels will begin after the ongoing measles campaign concludes.

Throughout the event, speakers repeatedly called for strengthened community engagement to ensure successful vaccine uptake.

Dr. Koiti also shared the broader mission of SWAM, a membership-based non-profit that unites South Sudanese female doctors, pharmacists, and dentists to address gender disparities in healthcare leadership.

“You hardly hear of female healthcare professionals leading initiatives like this. We are here to change that narrative,” she declared. “We believe women must have a voice not only at the bedside but also in policymaking.”

The event concluded with a call for continuous dialogue and similar forums in the future to maintain momentum. Radio Tamazuj

Fifteen million forced to leave their homes amid massacre, mass rape and famine

A Maltese aid worker recently returned from Sudan has spoken of the famine and mass displacement facing the country amid an appalling civil war that entered its third year on Tuesday.

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) media and communications adviser Karl Schembri said Sudan was facing the “biggest displacement crisis on earth,” with 15 million people forced to leave their homes. 

Describing nightmare conditions in the country including “massacres, mass rapes and mass looting,” Schembri explained the Sudanese were now facing famine, with many farmers unable to work the land and the economy floundering.

Meanwhile, “massive” funding cuts announced by the Trump administration in the US have seen aid to the struggling country drastically reduced, “making lives more miserable for people who depend on it”. 

Maltese aid worker and former journalist Karl Schembri discusses his experiences in Sudan, which is facing a brutal civil war. Video: Karl Andrew Micallef.  

Schembri, a former journalist, spent two weeks documenting the situation in Sudan last month after travelling to the war-torn country from his home in Nairobi, Kenya, via Chad.

“The area where I was staying is called Al Junaynah. It’s the capital of West Darfur and the site of massacres and atrocious violence from fighting two years ago,” he said.

“Long stretches of it are ghost towns; there are abandoned buildings, destroyed and damaged buildings. There are images that are just haunting... the ghosts are still there, and they will be there for a long time to come.

”Speaking via video call from Nairobi, Schembri described a “heartbreaking” meeting with four orphans living in an abandoned home who had travelled over 1,000 km to escape the fighting.

“I realised that in this bare, abandoned home, every wall was showing illustrations of the fighting they fled from; guns, artillery, drones, pick-up trucks with heavy machine guns on them and people fleeing, running from the guns,” he said. 

“This is the nightmare that they fled from.”

‘Dying of starvation’

Schembri explained the widespread fighting gripping the country had been “extremely devastating for the economy,” leading to rapid inflation driving severe food insecurity.

“The worst-hit areas are inaccessible, and that is a big part of the reason why they are going through famine. There are areas which have been under siege, completely cut off, which you’ll barely ever see in pictures,” he said. 

Describing food as scarce and “extremely expensive, so unaffordable for much of the population,” Schembri said around half of the population, some 25 million people, were left hungry. 

 

People have fled hundreds of miles to avoid the fighting. 

“People have died of starvation – and have been starved by the parties to this conflict who have made aid impossible to reach them,” he said, adding the fighting had left the market unable to keep up with the population’s needs. 

“But on top of all that, then you have these massive funding cuts, which are the biggest ever cuts we’ve witnessed across the world... aid which will no longer reach those who need it.”

Last month, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi warned that “brutal funding cuts” announced by the White House were putting “millions at risk” as he prepared staff for mass layoffs 

Meanwhile, earlier this week it emerged that the US embassy in Malta could face closure as the Trump administration seeks to slash some $30 billion from the State Department by scaling back diplomatic missions and drastically reducing foreign aid.

‘Only lifeline’

Recounting the story of a woman left blinded and partially deaf when her family home was targeted in an attack that claimed the lives of her five children, Schembri said she had described a local NRC access centre as her “only lifeline”.

“Knowing these centres might close down was extremely worrying for her... She was saying, ‘where do we go after this?’” 

Earlier this month, the organisation said the “most severe US funding cuts ever, on top of aid cuts by several European donors” had forced it to close access centres, halt farmer subsidies and scale back on education programmes. Whenever I come back home from these places, I hear their voices 

Describing the access centres as a “one-stop shop” for those impacted by the crisis, Schembri explained that the centres helped distribute aid and acted as community centres.

Meanwhile, a bakery subsidy programme in Sudan that had lowered the price of bread by three-quarters had also been frozen, he said. 

‘It’s evil’

But with US and European citizens facing rising costs and increasing economic uncertainty, what is Schembri’s response to those who argue charity should start at home?

“Firstly, there are welfare systems that should already be helping these people in their own state. And secondly, that’s pitting one level of misery against another, which is just nefarious,” he stressed.

“It’s evil, and just pitting the homeless, the people who have no access to healthcare in big, wealthy countries because of their domestic injustices... against the people of Sudan or the people of Yemen or Palestine, as if they are not the same humanity.”

 

The civil war in Sudan has displaced millions and left many children orphans. 

He added that large countries should also take responsibility for “allowing these conflicts to fester, [and] war criminals to get on with what they’re doing and making things worse”.

Turning to Malta, Schembri believes the country is going through a “very difficult period”, pointing to what he describes as “dangerous discourse that is being peddled”.

“When I see what is being discussed in terms of how we treat refugees, people crossing into our borders, risking their lives and our adherence to the human rights conventions... this plays to populist feelings of ‘these are not our problem’.

“I just appeal to the level-headed part of the electorate who still have values, who care to stand up to this. No, don’t let this discourse become normal.”

‘The real heroes’

Despite the difficulties facing Sudan, Schembri said he was inspired by the Sudanese people, whom he described as the “real heroes of this,” noting the NRC worked with local aid workers across the country. 

“When you see this happening across the entire country, that is clearly saying something about the character of the Sudanese, being so resilient, resourceful, courageous, [and] a lot of them are being killed and working against all odds.”

 

Sudanese aid workers, the ‘real heroes’ of the crisis. 

Stressing that while the situation was challenging, “none of us has any excuse to give up hope,” an eventuality he said would only condemn the Sudanese to further neglect. 

“Meeting these people is what keeps me going... and their voices keep haunting me,” Schembri said.

“Whenever I come back home from these places, I hear their voices.”  By James Cummings , Times of Malta